Method of assorting and classifying laundry articles



Jul 7, 1931. c. E. CONSTABLE 1,813,229

I METHOD OF ASSORTING AND CLASSIFYING LAUNDRY ARTICLES Original Fi led June 28, 1928 &\ E

m y 1 Q5225 O Q; o

- MfiM Patented July 7, 1931 UNLTE essle weme Melons "3 IYIACHINE CODI PANYYOF CINCINNATL OHIO, K CORPORATION OF OHIO METHOD or Assonrriie hiifimxssirfifiii This appli'cati oh' is a divisionof .copending application; Serial Number 288 979; filed June 28, 1928; to" which "referen'ce is" her'e m'a'deg I p I I Ea'uhdry articles are u'su'a1ly received in a" commercial laundryin" individual; family bundles which" haveto *be" h'rolren and classified' and assorted, and*thenconveyed to the proper washinfl mechanism, and atthe same tinre- 'th'e' 'art'icles mu'st be provided with suitable 'iclentifi'eation characters; whereby they maybe collected'and againiformed'into suit able h'undlesand'delivered to theowners. A large" amount of vvorlris involved irf-the" proper assortin'g alid' classifyin-gzof the 'la'u'ndry artieles, and" considerable 'diflicultyhas been experienced a in collectingth'e articles after they: have been washed and agaiii': bundling-them'to'avoid loss;

To simplify the assorting; andgclassifying of the articles from-the. family'hundl'es andto decrease "the percentage of errorsand'loss; I have provided a n vvand 'improvedmetlv 0d of asserting ai1d classifying-1 the artil's to be Washed.-

Oir of-th'e= obje'ets ofmy invention is to" provide anfimproved systemior method of breaking the individual f'a-mily 'bundles 'of laundry and preparingthem 'for= theiwash room, and separating and' elass'ifying the articles with a miriimumamount of labor; andfat the sametime with a high degree'o'f' accuracy toavoid mistakes. 7

A'further object is to provide a mecha-" nism whereby the above method may be more easily and quickly carried' out, and whereby: the chances of mistakes and er rors are greatly reduced; and'fiirther Whereby the articles of the bundlesmay' be passed progressively from one operator toanother, the bundles being, passed? in a successive manner at regular intervals in'such manner as'to increase the speed of thework.

A" further objeet o'f my" iriventjion 'is te'f provide in' connection with" a' *meehaifism" of seni emessa es Jiiihii? No. 368;"35'31 p a I the type abo've describea meiinswher byime articles in one conta'i'iier will notbeeohfe mixed" with "the 'arti;c*1es'in anether cema'intr,

My invention co ri sistsin the relative ran emenr of, the varimisscebs "ofT he-metlf-f ga o d,-'-Wherehy the olije'cts' colitefiiplated fire' attained; as "hereinafter mOrefuH-yst "forth-e pointed out" in 'my claims; andeillustrate in'thefaecempanymg drawm sy in"whieha',

sidememher's 1'6 aiid 17'; whichexteiidi sub stan'tially the entire length of; the? frame The member-'lGtermin-ates inside of the end i; of"the""frame slight di'stari'ce, vvhil'e the" member 17 terminates a greater distaricewi from the sa'm'eiend *of th'ei' ffaiheij sll oi t side ri-niljer l8 isprrdvidedso'-th'at--'a* Iibtllh or "opening is "formed b'etweemthe memheis 3% 173M118) and of a length slightly less than the distance between said side members, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1.

The belt is designed to travel in an anticlockwise direction, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. The partitions 26 are preferably mounted equidistantly. The partitions of. the upper run are designed to travel between the side members to form compartments 28 for receiving the laundry articles, each compartment being designed to receive and carry all articles in an individual family bundle.

A chute 29 is provided at the receiving end of the belt having its lower edge terminating at a point immediately above the first one of the partitions 26, as illustrated in Figure 3, for receiving the family bundles and for delivering the same to the belt.

A platform 30 is provided near the receiving end of the belt on which a number of family bundles may be placed.

Adjacent to the rear end of the side mem ber 17, and outside of the frame 10, is a pair of net or bag holders 31, and spaced rearwardly from the net holders 31 is another net holder 32. The net holder and the rear net holder 31 are spaced apart such a distance as to permit an operator to stand between them. Said spacing forms what I shall term station D.

The opposite end of the frame 10 is provided with a pair of net holders 33, spaced apart to receive an operator between them, said spacing forming station E. Each of said stations is provided with an operator. Operators are also located at stations A, B and C. Station A is located near the receiving end of the belt, while stations B and U are located substantially midway between the upright partitions adjacent to station A.

The roller 12 is provided with an extended shaft 34, having a belt driven by a motor 36. The electric conductors 37 of the motor include a switch 38, whereby the motor may be started and stopped, and in turn the movements of the belt controlled.

Frame members 39 are preferably an?- chored to the sides of the frame through which partitions 26 travel. Said frames are spaced'apart a distance equal to the spacing of the partitions 26. Said frames provide means for determining the stopping positions of the partitions, as well as supporting the curtains 40 which assist in keeping articles of the adjacent family bundles separated.

The switch 38 is located near the delivery end of the belt where it may be actuated by either of the operators in stations D and E.

In carrying out the operation of my improved method, an operator is placed in each of the stations A, B, D and E, and one or more individual family bundles delivered to the platform 30, one of the bundles is then grasped by the operator in station A, and is then weighed and the weight of the bundle is recorded together with the number of the identification device, which is preferably a pin 41, such as illustrated in Figure 4-. A pin tray is then placed on the belt 14 in the first compartment at the receiving end. This pin tray is adapted to contain a number of the pins ll, all of wh'ch bear the same identification number or mark. The bag is then broken and the contents emptied into the chute 29 and delivered thereby to the belt. The articles are desi nated by the numeral 43. The empty bag 14 is then placed on the belt 14 adjacent to the second partition 26.

The switch is then operated and the belt 14L advanced a distance equal to the siacing of the cleats 26, after which the motor is again stopped. The articles 4L3 will then rest in the second compartment in the receiving end of the conveyor in front of the operator in station B.

A second bundle is at this time introduced to the chute as before described. At the same time the operator in station E separates the white articles from the colored ones, placing the white articles in a pile 45 adjacent to the forward partition of said compartment, and the colored articles in a pile 46 adjacent to the rear partition of said compartment, as indicated in Figure 1, and at the same time spread out the articles for easy ac ess by the operators.

At this time the belt is again advanced one step in the manner above described, bringing the piles i5 and 46 in front of station 0. The operator at station C classilics all colored articles for washing, places them in a pile 927 and marks all fugitives with. separate pins from the tray 4:2 and then places them in a pile 49, and the hand wash articles in a pile 50.

The conveyor is again advanced one step, carrying the piles l7 in front of the operator at station E and the piles 49 and 50 in front of the operator at station D.

The operator in station E then places nets on the holders 33, after which the articles in the piles l7 are scraped off into the nets in the holders Said nets are then pinned with identification pins taken from the tray l2. The operator in station D at the same time places the colored articles in a net in the holder 32, and the fugitives and hand wash articles in nets in the holders 31, and pins the nets with identification pins from the tray l2, after which the nets are ready for distribution in the proper washing machines.

By this arrangement it will be seen that the belt is advanced a step at a time and allowed .to remain stationary during the time the operators in all of the stations perform the various operations, said operanet-332w operators, and the operator in one station must perform her work in the same length of time as required for operators in other stations, thereby preventing delays and confusion that might otherwiseibe caused by one operator not keeping up with her work, and thus the Work is rapidlyand accurately performed.

It will readily be seen that articles from a given bundle are placed in a compartment and retained in said compartment as it is advanced through all of its operations. The assorted piles are placed in suitable nets, and all of the nets containing articles .from a given compartmentare pinned with pins from a given tray, so the nets may be collected after the washing has been per formed and the articles again placed in suitable bundles on which is placed the original ticket corresponding to the particular identification number or mark.

It should be borne in mind that each time a new bundle is placed in the chute 29 a new pin tray'is also placed on the belt 1a in that particular compartment. The pins of one tray have different identification numbers from those of the other trays.

Thus means is provided. whereby each individual washing or family bundle may be broken and classified into a number of piles, each of which is provided with a given identification number.

The identification pins in the trays may be of any one of a number of such devices now in common use, or other identification means may be substituted for the pins, inasmuch as the particular apparatus described herein forms no part of my present invention other than to show a practical means for carrying out my improved method. It will readily be seen that even the transverse partitions may be dispensed with, or even the belt itself. However, the

. invention is best carried out by means of some moveable carrier or platform.

My improved method consists broadly in providing a number of classifying stations and an operator for each station, then delivering to the first operator of the series a family bundle, breaking the bundle, weighing the same and recording the weight of the bundle with the name of the owner of the bundle, together with an identification device; and so locating the stations and operators that the broken bundle of mixed laundry articles may be advanced progressively past all of the stations, the first bundle being followed successively by other bundles, all of the bundles being advanced simultaneously and allowed to rest a short period of time in front of the respective operators, at which time the operators perform assigned assorting and classifying operations; and ap pl -tome assorted ilesideraifieation devices carrying the number or markidentifying the 1 own er-';g pin all fugutives, hand wash articles, etc: Witlrsim-ilar identification marks that are applied tothe piles and finally places the ren'iaining classi-fied articles' into individ-i'i'a'l' nets' an'd applying toeach net an} identification device. I claim a's my invention 1 Thennethod of assorting laundry articles: wl'ii'chconsists" infirst establishing a series of operators stations, then advancing past said stations a series of compartments designedto cohtai'nlaundry articles, and stopping each compartment temporarily adjacent to each station, and then during the time that each compartment is standing adjacent to each station performing by the operator an assorting portion of the complete assorting operation so that each operator may perform the same portion of the 'assorting operation upon each set of laundry articles in each compartment.

2. The method of asso-rting laundry articles which consists in first establishing a series of operators stations then advancing past said stations a series of compartments designed to contain laundry articles,

the assorting operation upon each set of laundry, articles in each compartment, and also providing a set of detachable identification devices in each compartment identifying the owner of the articles in said compartment, and performing identification opera tions by the operators by the use of said detachable identification devices in certain of said compartments.

' 8. The 1 method of assorting laundry articles, which consists in establishing a series of operators stations then advancing past said stations a series of compartments designed to contain laundry articles, then delivering bundles of miXed laundry articles to the first station, then breaking the bundle, then advancing the articles of said bundle to a second station during the time a second bundle is being delivered to the first station, performing an assorting operation on the articles of thefirst bundle, advancing the bundles simultaneously to other stations and reassorting and classifying the articles for washing, and applying to each classified lot operators stations, then advancing past said stations a series of compartments designed to contain laundry articles, then delivering bundles of mixed laundry articles to the first station, then breaking the bundle, then advancing the articles of said bundle to a sec- 0nd station during the time a second bundle is being delivered to the first station, performin an assorting operation on the articles of the first bundle, advancing the bundles simultaneously to other stations and reassorting and classifying the articles for washing.

Des Moines, Iowa, May 13, 1929.

CHARLES E. CONSTABLE. 

